Delta students need new equipment to finish their video game

BY CAMILLIA LANHAM

Math students at Delta High School need to raise $10,000 by April 26. It’s money that could upgrade the computers and software they’re using to create their own video game.

GAME-MAKERS:

Delta High School students are creating a video game modeled after Zelda, calling it The Frozen Sword, and they’re raising money to help finish the project before the end of the school year.

IMAGE COURTESY OF DELTA HIGH SCHOOL

They need the upgrade to help finish the project, which math teacher Justin Fraser started as an experiment with the purchase of game-making software called RPG Maker.

It was only supposed to be a one-hour game Fraser could use as a tool to pitch a new class to the district office that could earn students English, math, or elective units. What began as a five-student team grew to 20 students and they have put six weeks of out-of-school “elective” time into the game.

“I bought it to try to goof off with the kids and they really got into it,” Fraser said. “No matter how much I tried to reel in the kids … they wanted it big, so finally I said, ‘OK, fine.’”

The students’ goal is for the game to be four to six hours long. The first phase is complete except for the finishing touches and is 1 1/2 hours long. The second phase is mapped out and still needs to be programmed and the third phase is awaiting plans. The game is modeled after Zelda and they are calling it The Frozen Sword.

With only three months before many of the students graduate, Fraser is worried his class won’t be able to finish the video game without newer equipment and software.

Fraser and his students are fundraising on Kickstarter.com, a creative project website that has funded more than 39,000 film, game, music, design, and technology projects with more than $567 million in donated funds.

So far 122 people have pledged $4,050 to the Delta High School project. A professional musician is composing music for the game as an in-kind donation. All donated funds will be put toward updated software and newer laptops for the school and proceeds from video game sales will go back into the game.

“To see the community actually donate to a project they’re doing makes them absolutely ecstatic,” Fraser said. “It’s definitely made it all worth it.”

To learn more about the project or to contribute, visit kickstarter.com/projects/104095/frozen-sword.